ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Defence
BRO opens strategic Leh-Manali Highway in record time of 138 days
The Border Roads Organization  has opened strategically important Leh-Manali Highway  on March 25, 2023 in record time of 138 days. Last year it took 144 days for BRO to open the highway for traffic. It is a 427 km long strategic highway connecting Ladakh to the rest of India via Manali, having strategic importance for the movement of the armed forces and their supplies to forward areas in Ladakh, as well as connecting the people of Ladakh to India. The highway is an alternate route to the 422 km long Srinagar-Kargil-Leh Highway  which was opened by Border Roads Organisation  in 16 March 2023. BRO also opened the mighty Shinkula Pass located at 16,580 ft in Nimmu-Padum-Darch road in record time of 55 days, on 23 March 2023.
The Leh-Manali highway generally remains closed from November end with onset of winter till it is opened in March. The entire 427 km road has been cleared of snow by BRO frontline Project Himank in Ladakh and Project Deepak in Himachal Pradesh. These challenging operations commenced from two extremities of the road by two different teams comprising skilled manpower and state-of-the-art machines. As the two snow clearance teams converge at a common point in Sarchu, Himachal Pradesh, a ‘Golden Handshake’ ceremony was organized there to declare the highway open.
ABB/SR/GC
(Visitor Counter : 4244
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
MCA amended Companies Act 2013 to mitigate blow by COVID-19 pandemic
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs  has taken various measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic by making amendments in the Companies Act, 2013, Rules made thereunder and by issuing various circulars from time to time. The details of such measures taken by the Ministry are attached as Annexure.
This was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
HON’BLE GOVERNOR OF MAHARASHTRA VISITS QUEEN MARY’S TECHNICAL INSTITUTE  AND PARAPLEGIC REHABILITATION CENTER  AT PUNE
The Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who is also Patron in Chief of Queen Mary’s Technical Institute  for Rehabilitation of Disabled Soldiers, Kirkee, Pune visited the institute and met with disabled soldier students undergoing rehabilitation training on 29 December 2021. The Hon’ble Governor visited Workshop, Class Room and interacted with soldiers. The Hon’ble Governor applauded the efforts put in by the Teachers and staff of QMTI in bringing a positive change in the life of soldiers who had been disabled while in service to the Nation.
Established in 1917, QMTI is a 104 years old institute and only one of its kind in India giving rehabilitation training to wounded serving & retired soldiers, for their respectable rehabilitation in life after superannuation from services. The institute gives vocational training to disabled soldiers in ITI courses, Management courses by Pune University and Computer courses certified by NIELIT. QMTI has imparted rehabilitation training to more than 12000 disabled soldiers since its inception. QMTI trained soldiers have been placed with leading Industrial Houses and in various State Government jobs. Hon’ble Governor later also visited Paraplegic Rehabilitation Center , Kirkee and interacted with the residents. He appreciated the rehabilitation training being conducted by the PRC.
Lt Gen Arvind Walia, Chief of Staff, Headquarters Southern Command and Maj Gen Inderjeet Singh, SC, SM, General Officer Commanding, Dakshin Maharashtra & Goa Sub Area who is also Chairman of QMTI were present during the visit of Hon’ble Governor.
Ministry of Tourism
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in the latest edition of Mann Ki Baat, highlights the importance of Amrit Mahotsav and Har Ghar Tiranga Campaigns in uniting people
On the special occasion of Amrit Mahotsav and Independence Day we have seen the collective might of the country: Shri Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, during the 92nd Edition of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 28th August, 2022 lauded the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahostva and Har Ghar Tiranga campaigns that worked together in uniting the people. These campaigns reflect the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
During Man Ki Baat address, the PM said that on this special occasion of Amrit Mahotsav and Independence Day, we have seen the collective might of the country. There has been a sense of realisation. Such a big country, so many diversities, but when it came to hoisting the tricolor, everyone seemed to flow in the same spirit. People themselves came forward, becoming the vanguard of the pride of the tricolor. We had also seen the spirit of the country in the cleanliness campaign and the vaccination campaign. We are getting to witness the same spirit of patriotism again in the Amrit Mahotsav. Our soldiers hoisted the tricolor on the peaks of high mountains, on the borders of the country, and in the middle of the sea.
Taking about Amrit Mahotsav PM Modi further said that friends these colors of the Amrit Mahotsav were seen not only in India, but also in other countries of the world. Local singers living in Botswana sang 75 patriotic songs to celebrate 75 years of India's independence. What is more special in this is that these 75 songs were sung in languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bangla, Assamese, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Sanskrit. Similarly, in Namibia, a special stamp has been released on the Indo-Namibian cultural-traditional relations.
The prime minister also urged people to watch the Swaraj serial, which highlights contributions of freedom fighters, especially the unsung heroes, on Doordarshan. ''It is a great initiative to acquaint the younger generation of the country with the efforts of unsung heroes who took part in the freedom movement,'' he said. Modi also highlighted different individual efforts in various parts of India to celebrate Independence Day on August 15.
PM Shri Narendra Modi has accorded Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat the pride of place in various editions of Mann ki Baat.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya reviews Arrangements for Screening and Testing of International Passengers at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi
Passengers arriving from 6 high-risk countries are now mandatorily required to upload their negative RT-PCR test reports in the Air Suvidha portal within 72 hours of undertaking their journey to India: Dr Mandaviya
Underscores the importance of following COVID Appropriate Behaviour and getting fully vaccinated against COVID-19
Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today visited the Indira Gandhi International airport, New Delhi to review arrangements for screening and testing of international passengers in view of the recent spike in cases of COVID-19 in some countries.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya reviewed the RT-PCR testing mechanism and the Air Suvidha portal which has been started from 1st January, 2023. He also visited the Airport Health Organization office  and interacted with the officials present there. He stated that “passengers arriving from 6 high-risk countries are now mandatorily required to upload their negative RT-PCR test reports in the Air Suvidha portal within 72 hours of undertaking their journey to India while travellers from other countries are being randomly tested at the airports upon their arrival in India”. “This is being done to ensure that genome sequencing of any positive case is promptly done to understand the strength and behaviour of any new variants”, he further stated.
Underscoring the challenge posed by the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in some countries across the world such as China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and United States, Union Health Minister emphasized the importance of being prepared and remaining alert against new and emerging strains of COVID-19. He directed officials to be fully geared up and urged people to follow COVID Appropriate Behaviour and get vaccinated against COVID. He also stated that the Union Government is taking all necessary measures to ensure effective preparation and management of the emerging COVID-19 scenario.
Union Health Ministry has already issued the revised guidelines for international passengers travelling to India on 29 December, 2023. It can be accessed here:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1887288
Cabinet
Cabinet approves Memorandum of Understanding between Zoological Survey of India and International Barcode of Life, a Canadian not-for-profit corporation
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of a Memorandum of Understanding  signed in June, 2020 between Zoological Survey of India , a subordinate organization under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and International Barcode of Life , a Canadian not-for-profit corporation.
ZSI and iBOL have come together for further efforts in DNA barcoding, a methodology for rapidly and accurately identifying species by sequencing a short segment of standardized gene regions and comparing individual sequences to a reference database. iBOL is a research alliance involving nations that have committed both human and financial resources to enable expansion of the global reference database, the development of informatics platforms, and/or the analytical protocols needed to use the reference library to inventory, assess, and describe biodiversity. The MoU will enable ZSI to participate at the Global level programmes like Bioscan and Planetary Biodiversity Mission.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
Wastage due to Improper Storage
No wastage of Central Pool Foodgrains  stored in godowns of Food Corporation of India  can be directly attributed to lack of proper storage facilities. Procured foodgrains are stored by FCI in a scientific manner in covered godowns and Cover & Plinth  storage.
Inspite of all precautions, some quantity of foodgrains may get damaged/become non-issuable during storage due to transit damages vizenroute damage in wagon/truck, contamination, wagon roof leakage, Natural Calamities like cyclone/flood etc.
The quantum of foodgrains, which got damaged in godowns of FCI during last three year is as under:
|
|
Year
|
|
Quantity of damaged foodgrains 
|
|
2017-18
|
|
0.027
|
|
2018-19
|
|
0.05
|
|
2019-20
|
|
0.02
India is a Member of World Trade Organization  and the provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture under the aegis of WTO, restrict exports on commercial terms from public stockholding. No import/export for wheat/rice  has been made from Central Pool Foodgrains Stocks during the last year and the current year till date.
To meet any contingency situation like drought, a strategic reserve of 20 Lakh MT of rice and 30 Lakh MT of wheat is maintained at national level at different Food Corporation of India  godowns, out of the foodgrains procured at Minimum Support Price .
This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution, Shri DanveRaosahebDadarao in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Railways
Overhauling of Railway Coaches
All the coaches running on Indian Railways are periodically overhauled as prescribed in maintenance manuals / instructions.
The Government has allocated ₹9277 crore for the periodic overhauling/servicing of railway coaches in Budget Estimates 2018-19.
Acquisition of new coaches for replacement of over-aged stock is a continuous process on Indian Railways. Coaches are replaced after attaining their prescribed codal life or prematurely in case of heavy damage to structural members.
The details of the coaches replaced in the last three years, zone-wise are as under:-
|
|
Zonal Railway
|
|
2015-16
|
|
2016-17
|
|
2017-18
|
|
Central Railway
|
|
78
|
|
147
|
|
235
|
|
Eastern Railway
|
|
92
|
|
124
|
|
199
|
|
Northern Railway
|
|
247
|
|
229
|
|
269
|
|
North Eastern Railway
|
|
132
|
|
29
|
|
125
|
|
Northeast Frontier Railway
|
|
25
|
|
59
|
|
74
|
|
Southern Railway
|
|
112
|
|
270
|
|
241
|
|
South Central Railway
|
|
127
|
|
150
|
|
156
|
|
South Eastern Railway
|
|
93
|
|
84
|
|
133
|
|
Western Railway
|
|
150
|
|
157
|
|
184
|
|
East Central Railway
|
|
37
|
|
28
|
|
11
|
|
East Cost Railway
|
|
38
|
|
65
|
|
67
|
|
North Central Railway
|
|
22
|
|
33
|
|
43
|
|
North Western Railway
|
|
36
|
|
51
|
|
36
|
|
South East Central Railway
|
|
17
|
|
29
|
|
16
|
|
South Western Railway
|
|
67
|
|
103
|
|
65
|
|
West Central Railway
|
|
12
|
|
26
|
|
32
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
1285
|
|
1584
|
|
1886
This information was given by the Minister of State of Railways, Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Vice President's Secretariat
Vice President wishes the people on the auspicious occasion of Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra
The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has wished the people on the auspicious occasion of Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra.
Following is the full text of the Vice President's message-
"I convey my heartiest greetings and good wishes to the people of our country on the auspicious occasion of Rath Yatra.
Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra is the most revered and much awaited festival of Odisha. Rath Yatra depicts the annual journey of Lord Jagannath, who is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
The splendour and grandeur of the festival of Rath Yatra and the magnificence of the 'Rathas' or the chariots, is truly unparalleled.
As India and the world continue to fight a relentless battle against the spread of COVID-19, we have resorted to celebrating almost all of our traditional festivals at home. Under these circumstances, we have to be content with a modest celebration this year.
May the pious and noble ideals associated with Rath Yatra enrich our lives with peace and harmony.
The Vice President's message on Rath Yatra in Hindi -
"भगवान श्री जगन्नाथ की रथ यात्रा के पावन अवसर पर देशवासियों को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं देता हूं। विशेषकर ओडिशा के निवासी जगन्नाथ पुरी की विश्व विख्यात रथयात्रा की वर्ष पर्यन्त बेसब्री से प्रतीक्षा करते हैं। रथयात्रा, भगवान विष्णु के अवतार श्री जगन्नाथ जी की वार्षिक यात्रा का अवसर होता है। इस आयोजन में रथयात्रा के उत्सव की भव्यता और रथों की दिव्यता, सचमुच कल्पनातीत होती है।
आज जब भारत और विश्व कोविड 19 महामारी से जूझ रहा है, हम अपने सभी पारंपरिक उत्सव घर में ही रह कर अपने स्वजनों के साथ ही मना रहे हैं। इन विषम परिस्थितियों में, इस वर्ष हमें अपने आयोजन को सीमित रखना होगा।
फिर भी रथ यात्रा से जुड़ी पवित्रता और आस्था हमारे जीवन को शांति, सौहार्द और खुशहाली से समृद्ध करेगी।"
Ministry of Electronics & IT
Government's Digital India transforming lives, restoring trust in democracy, says MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Fintech driving the innovation ecosystem in India
Fintech has helped plug corruption, leaks in financial disbursements
Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has said that India’s fintech ecosystem has helped rebuild the trust between the citizens and the Government, transform lives and restore faith in democracy.
“There was time when it was openly admitted that out of every 100 rupees disbursed by the Government from Delhi, only Rs 15 reached the beneficiary, and the rest of money got mysteriously siphoned off. But today, there is no leak or scope for corruption as the beneficiaries get their amounts due straight in their Jan Dhan accounts and are empowered financially,” Mr. Chandrasekhar said, while speaking at the closing day of the FinTech Festival India at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday.
India is among the world’s fastest growing fintech market with 6,636 FinTech startups. Indian FinTech industry’s market size is $31 Bn in 2021 and has the highest FinTech adoption rate at 87 per cent.
Mr. Chandrasekhar also said that for the best part of India’s journey since Independence, the country’s economy was governed by few companies/ families and they controlled the opportunities and the capital. “Our democracy was seen as dysfunctional. Our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Digital India vision has dramatically transformed the way governance is carried out in the past seven years and the nation today is being driven by the energy, hard work, along with innovation and ideas of young Indians all around the country,” he pointed out.
While Fintech in India is a stark demonstrator of the power of using technology in governance and the impact it has on creating the innovation ecosystem, Mr Chandrasekhar said the Government has taken other path-breaking initiatives like the drones and the space technology ecosystems, which will be key to nation’s development.
The FinTech Festival India was held between July 20 and 22 at Pragati Maidan, Delhi, organised by Constellar and supported by Niti Aayog and few central and state government ministries.
RKJ/M
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Ministry of Science & Technology
Functional connectivity changes in the brain after meditation: study
Researchers have found that consistent meditation modifies the connectivity between relay channels that takes in data from the sensory world to the cerebral cortex of the brain. It allows a person to easily transition into a state of deep meditation, making it easier to meditate. Meditation has been a mainstay in Indian traditions for ages.
However, the scientific understanding of the different states of yoga has been limited. A number of EEG studies have found that a deep stage of meditation results in an increase in theta and delta waves in the brain. These waves are caused during a relaxed stage but not in sleeping stage.
Figure 1: Anterior thalamocortical functional connectivity changes before and after Yoga Nidra meditation in expert meditators.
A new study supported by the SATYAM programme of the Department of Science and Technology  suggests that consistent practice reduces thalamocortical connection with the sensory regions of the brain. The findings were presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance.
The team consisting of Vaibhav Tripathi, Anju Dhawan, Vidur Mahajan, and Rahul Garg recorded brain activity with the help of MRI of expert meditators and also those who do not regularly practice meditation before, during, and after meditation.
Figure 2: Experimental Protocol
The results of the study were carried out collaboratively by the Psychological and Brain Sciences Dept., Boston University, School of Information Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Mahajan Imaging Center, Delhi, and Dept. of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi demonstrated and experimentally validated the concept of Pratyahara and Dharana associated with the withdrawal of sensory information which allowed a reduction in brain activity that helped transcending into deep states of meditation. It underlineed the importance of the different techniques which incorporate aspects of Pratyahara and Dharana.
A weak effect was observed across novices, though not as strong as meditators suggesting that the one-time effect of meditation is positive, but consistent practice results in long-term changes and make it easier to meditate.
Although MRI allowed an unprecedented spatial resolution of the brain, it is slow as compared to EEG, which is a better proxy for the neuronal firing in the brain but without the spatial coverage. In future studies, the researchers plan to record simultaneously EEG/MRI activity to look at the brain waves during the slowing down of the brain and better characterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of meditation across the different states of Dhyana and Samadhi.
Ministry of Power
Measures taken to promote Hydro Power in India
The Government had taken several policy initiatives in the past for hydropower development in the country viz., National Electricity Policy 2005, National Tariff Policy 2016, National Rehabilitation & Resettlement Policy 2007 and Right to Fair Compensation & Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013.
Subsequently, the Government has also issued measures to promote Hydro Power Sector on 8th March, 2019 under which the following provisions have been made:-
 Declaring Large Hydro Projects  as Renewable Energy source.
 Tariff rationalization measures for bringing down hydropower tariff.
 Budgetary Support for Flood Moderation/ Storage Hydro Electric Projects .
 Budgetary Support to Cost of Enabling Infrastructure i.e., roads/bridges.
Subsequently, the Hydro Purchase Obligation  trajectory, for the period 2021-22 to 2029-30 has also been notified by the Government on 29.01.2021.
These measures would be particularly beneficial for development of hydro projects, in hilly regions/ States, which are often located in remote and far-flung areas and require development of extensive associated infrastructure such as roads, bridges etc. for transportation of heavy, large sized equipment & machinery to the project site.
This information was given by Shri R.K. Singh, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Encouragement to Agri-Startups in Rural Areas
The Government of India, Department of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare  is implementing “Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development” programme under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana  from 2018-19 with an objective to promote innovation and agri-entrepreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing an incubation ecosystem in the country. This Department has appointed five Knowledge Partners  and twenty-four RKVY Agribusiness Incubators  from across the country for incubation of startups and implementation of this programme.
Start-ups are trained and incubated at various Knowledge Partners  and RKVY Agribusiness Incubators  appointed under the programme across the country. Technical and financial assistance is provided to startups to launch their products, services, business platforms, etc into the market and facilitate them to scale up their products and operations to attain business viability.
Besides, KPs and R-ABIs are promoting these startups by linking them with various institutions and organizations for their product & technology validation, certification, etc. Government of India organizes various national level programmes including agri-startup conclave, agri fair and exhibitions, webinars, workshops to serve as a platform for the promotion of agri startups by linking them with various stakeholders.
Under the programme, a financial support up to Rs. 5.00 lakh is provided at the idea/pre seed stage and up to Rs. 25 lakh at the seed stage. So far, a total of 1176 agri startups have been supported under the programme with financial assistance of Rs. 75.25 crores.
Besides, Government of India has approved a proposal to set up an “Accelerator Fund” of Rs. 500 crore for five years commencing from 2023-24 to encourage the young entrepreneurs to setup agri-startups. Accelerator fund will help to scale up the successful startups with innovative technologies having the potential of modernizing the agriculture ecosystem of the country. This initiative will also help to the farmers by having value addition to the agricultural produces, better supply chain and market linkages etc and to boost agricultural economy in the rural areas of the country.
Under the Accelerator Fund programme, certain activities are planned like development of institutional mechanism and operational guidelines, identification of problem statements in agriculture & allied sectors, selection of agri-startups having high impact & innovative solutions, technical and financial support to encourage selected agri-startups and capacity building, etc during 2023-24.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Prime Minister's Office
PM condoles the loss of lives due to road accident in Rajasthan
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed deep grief over the loss of lives due to a road accident in Barmer, Rajasthan.
Prime Minister's office tweeted:
"राजस्थान के बाड़मेर में हुआ सड़क हादसा अत्यंत दुखद है। इसमें जिन लोगों को जान गंवानी पड़ी है, उनके परिजनों के प्रति मैं अपनी गहरी संवेदना व्यक्त करता हूं। ईश्वर दुख की इस घड़ी में उन्हें संबल प्रदान करे: PM"